History Magazine / TheSpectator

* GratuitousForeignLanguage: Addison repeatedly criticises the fashion for Italian opera in London, pointing out that most of the people attending it don't speak the language anyway.

The first ''Spectator'' was a text publication that had a huge lasting impact on the British media scene despite [[BrieferThanTheyThink only lasting a year or so]]. Supposedly written by the fictional 'Mr Spectator', it was in fact anonymously penned by the partnership of [[TheSmartGuy Joseph Addison]] and Dick Steele, with occasional contributions from Addison's cousin Eustace Budgell. Addison and Steele were an OddCouple of good friends, with the Englishman Addison being highly educated and fond of high affairs of state dotted with classical references, while the Irishman Steele was more interested in SliceOfLife everyday affairs. Addison was also borderline asexual while Steele was TheCasanova. [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether They first met as pupils at Charterhouse boarding school]]. They were both members of the [[SmokyGentlemensClub Kit-Cat Club]] in London which was an influential part of the Whig Party at the time.

The first ''Spectator'' was a text publication that had a huge lasting impact on the British media scene despite [[BrieferThanTheyThink only lasting a year or so]]. Supposedly written by the fictional 'Mr Spectator', it was in fact anonymously penned by the partnership of [[TheSmartGuy Joseph Addison]] and [[AwesomeMcCoolname Dick Steele]], with occasional contributions from Addison's cousin Eustace Budgell. Addison and Steele were an OddCouple of good friends, with the Englishman Addison being highly educated and fond of high affairs of state dotted with classical references, while the Irishman Steele was more interested in SliceOfLife everyday affairs. Addison was also borderline asexual while Steele was TheCasanova. [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether They first met as pupils at Charterhouse boarding school]]. They were both members of the [[SmokyGentlemensClub Kit-Cat Club]] in London which was an influential part of the Whig Party at the time.

Founded by Robert Stephen Rintoul, the modern incarnation of ''The Spectator''`s political position has changed over time due to the tradition of the editor and proprietor being the same person. It was a radical liberal publication when first founded and remained such for many years, but in the 20th century shifted to the right and is now considered to be the mouthpiece of Conservative thought in the United Kingdom--though it retains columns and writers from outside that area. UsefulNotes/BorisJohnson first rose to prominence (and controversy) when he served as its editor from 1999 to 2005. The number of adultery scandals involving its writers in recent years has led to ''Magazine/PrivateEye'' dubbing it ''The Sextator''.

!!Tropes:

[[folder:The Spectator (1711)]]

''The Spectator''`s stated aim was to give a non-partisan look at British political affairs and daily life (hence the name, Mr Spectator being a neutral observer) but this was BlatantLies as it was a mouthpiece for Addison and Steele's Kit-Cat Whig political thought, albeit handled rather more subtly than in most publications of the time. Sometimes referenced were the cast of Mr Spectator's fictional friends, who were mostly made up of stereotypes and [[StrawmanPolitical Strawmen Politicals]] representing different strands of influence in British society at the time. After its end in 1712, the magazine was briefly revived in 1714 [[ContestedSequel without Steele's involvement]]. It continued to have influence for years later due to, unusually, being re-issued as compilation books throughout the eighteenth century.

Tropes:

[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Spectator (1828)]]
Founded by Robert Stephen Rintoul, the modern incarnation of ''The Spectator''`s political position has changed over time due to the tradition of the editor and proprietor being the same person. It was a radical liberal publication when first founded and remained such for many years, but in the 20th century shifted to the right and is now considered to be the mouthpiece of Conservative thought in the United Kingdom--though it retains columns and writers from outside that area. UsefulNotes/BorisJohnson first rose to prominence (and controversy) when he served as its editor from 1999 to 2005. The number of adultery scandals involving its writers in recent years has led to ''Magazine/PrivateEye'' dubbing it ''The Sextator''.

[[/folder]]

The first ''Spectator'' was a text publication that had a huge lasting impact on the British media scene despite [[BrieferThanTheyThink only lasting a year or so]]. Supposedly written by the fictional 'Mr Spectator', it was in fact anonymously penned by the partnership of [[TheSmartGuy Joseph Addison]] and [[AwesomeMcCoolname Dick Steele]], with occasional contributions from Addison's cousin Eustace Budgell. Addison and Steele were an OddCouple of good friends, with the Englishman Addison being highly educated and fond of high affairs of state dotted with classical references, while the Irishman Steele was more interested in SliceOfLife everyday affairs. Addison was also borderline {{Asexual}} while Steele was TheCasanova. [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether They first met as pupils at Charterhouse boarding school]]. They were both members of the [[SmokyGentlemensClub Kit-Cat Club]] in London which was an influential part of the Whig Party at the time.

Founded by Robert Stephen Rintoul, the modern incarnation of ''The Spectator''`s political position has changed over time due to the tradition of the editor and proprietor being the same person. It was a radical liberal publication when first founded and remained such for many years, but in the 20th century shifted to the right and is now considered to be the mouthpiece of Conservative thought in the United Kingdom--though it retains columns and writers from outside that area. UsefulNotes/BorisJohnson first rose to prominence (and controversy) when he served as its editor from 1999 to 2005. The number of adultery scandals involving its writers in recent years has led to ''PrivateEye'' dubbing it ''The Sextator''.

* GratuitousSpecialEffects: Addison complains about this in ''opera'' in issue No. 5.
* MagnumOpusDissonance: Addison used to be much better known for his plays, in Victorian times being almost as famous as Shakespeare, but now he is generally only remembered for his work on ''The Spectator''.
* OlderThanTheyThink: Modern eyes reading ''The Spectator'' will see an awful lot of 'modern' seeming ideas already being considered in the text.

Founded by Robert Stephen Rintoul, the modern incarnation of ''The Spectator''`s political position has changed over time due to the tradition of the editor and proprietor being the same person. It was a radical liberal publication when first founded and remained such for many years, but in the 20th century shifted to the right and is now considered to be the mouthpiece of Conservative thought in the United Kingdom--though it retains columns and writers from outside that area. BorisJohnson first rose to prominence (and controversy) when he served as its editor from 1999 to 2005. The number of adultery scandals involving its writers in recent years has led to ''PrivateEye'' dubbing it ''The Sextator''.

* {{Casanova}}: Steele in RealLife, and the character Will Honeycomb in the magazine, possibly in an AuthorAvatar fashion.

The first ''Spectator'' was a text publication that had a huge lasting impact on the British media scene despite [[BrieferThanTheyThink only lasting a year or so]]. Supposedly written by the fictional 'Mr Spectator', it was in fact anonymously penned by the partnership of [[TheSmartGuy Joseph Addison]] and [[AwesomeMcCoolname Dick Steele]], with occasional contributions from Addison's cousin Eustace Budgell. Addison and Steele were an OddCouple of good friends, with the Englishman Addison being highly educated and fond of high affairs of state dotted with classical references, while the Irishman Steele was more interested in SliceOfLife everyday affairs. Addison was also borderline {{Asexual}} while Steele was a {{Casanova}}. [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether They first met as pupils at Charterhouse boarding school]]. They were both members of the [[SmokyGentlemensClub Kit-Cat Club]] in London which was an influential part of the Whig Party at the time.